The Climb
by JohnnyCadesChick
Summary: Ponyboy learns somewhat from his friend why the greasers face all these challenges...sounds bad, I know. Just clicky and tell me what you think, it was a random idea.


**Across The Universe**

It was now ten. I hadn't heard from Johnny, and I guessed that I would be heading to church alone. I get kinda nervous, even though Jane's there and her family doesn't mind or anything. But all the Socs eye me while I'm in there, like they'd love to jump me the minute I stepped out those big stained-glasses doors.

Jane Chistler's dad went to school with my dad. They weren't best buddies or anything, but we always sat near them when we went to church, back when Mom and Dad were still alive. When they died and I was really the only one of us who still went to church, Jane's family had sort of…taken me under their wing. Let me set with them. It may not seem like that much, but let me tell you, when you're in a church half-full of Socs and you're the only greaser, you feel awkward and scared. They lessened my anxiety a bit, though. When Johnny came, he sat there too.

Jane was a nice, pretty girl, a good friend of mine. Her family was middle-class, and she made good grades too so she was in a few of my classes. She was fifteen, thogh. She seemed to understand me too-a little like Soda did.

Jane had plain features-long brown hair, large dark eyes-but her soul was beautiful. She cared deeply abou the things that were close to her heart. She liked some things I did-colors and sunsets, natural things that most people overlook. She was never mean to anyone-she thought it was a waste of time.

I wish there were more people like that.

Since I walked to church, I was late sometimes. Darry worked a lot on Sundays so he always had the car. During singing time, I slipped inside and ducked into the pew and next to Jane. "Hey," I panted. I had ran all the way here. I had waited for Johnny for a little while, but then I decided that he would have been there by now. And I was late.

"Hey," she whispered back. I broke into a coughing fit. I've got to cut back on smoking; it makes you short of breath after you run. Jane hated it; she thought it smelled bad and people looked so dumb breathing out smoke. Everyone turned to stare at me, and Jane put her hand on my back as I faltered. "Easy, Ponyboy. You gotta quit smokin', kid."

I smiled a little. Jane could be like my mom sometimes.

Our pastor spoke powerful things. We'd just got a new one. Our old pastor was so boring and spoke in a monotone voice, and a lot of people fell asleep. Jane would fall asleep on my shoulder every other week, and her dad, or brother, or whoever was on her other side would nudge her awake. I didn't have the heart to; she looked so young and might have been mad if I woke her up, and I dropped off once or twice myself.

This new guy though-he was tuff. The words he said…you held onto each one as you strung them together, and they stuck in your head. Made you think, but in a good way. Jane's mom said he must got his messages straight from Heaven, God whispering in his ear during every sermon. I thought it was great. I knew Johnny liked it too. He liked to hear about Heaven-sometimes, when he thought about killing himself, I knew he thought about how Heaven would be a lot better than where he lived. But we needed him down here on Earth.

Jane didn't live too far away from me. Her parents invited me over for dinner all the time. I'm always quiet; only Soda or Jane or someone like that can really get me talking, but I feel real awkward around the rest of Jane's family. Her twin kid sisters always stared at me, and her big brother's best friends best friends with a lot of the Socs.

Jane was walking me back to my house that afternoon; it was a nice day, she said. "Where was Johnny today?" she asked. She knew about him, we trusted her. Her mom knew about him, too.

"Home," I said. She sort of cringed. I sighed; I always talked with Jane about stuff that was on my mind at the time. "Jane, why dy'a think that God gives the greasers all this crap?" I asked her randomly.

Jane looked off into the distance, concentrating hard on the line between the sky and the tops of the trees. For every one of my complicated questions, she always had thoughtful answers.

"God gives us all challenges for different reasons, some bigger than others. To teach us lessons, to test us, to do so many things that you might not even be awareof…but I think God wants y'all to be ready for something real big for him. So he's getting you ready for it with the challenges you face. You can choose whether or not to listen to him; he'll give you what he wants to give you anyway. But everything he does has a purpose. You understand that, Ponyboy?"

I didn't understand it at that moment, but I did later. One month later, all the stuff happened with the church, and Johnny and Dallas died. Jane didn't know Dallas real well, but she loved Johnny. She loves all of us, but she felt so bad for him. She came to his funeral. While I tried to hold back tears and didn't succeed, she held my hand and whispered in my ear, "Another challenge, Pony. God must want you to do something real important for him." She paused. "And Johnny's better off up there. He's got a dad who loves him." She winked.

Then, she went over to make sure that Darry and Soda were okay. Darry was just staring blankly at the coffin; Soda was wiping a few tears away. She stood next to him, talking about something I couldn't hear.

It's good to have friends that dig that kind of thing. But I know Jane's right. God will probably give me more challenges, but I know there's gonna be something he wants me to do for him.

And personally, I'm excited.

***Yeah! I was thinking about the challenges God faces us with last night…but yeah. Random idea :D***


End file.
